Smaller CUs that offer great deals on rates and fees are taking center stage on a new CU ranking website that is being touted as “the first website to grade credit unions for consumer desirability.”  

Launched by Santa Barbara, Calif.- based Orien Investments LLC, MoveCU.com  ranks CUs based on a 15-point matrix that focuses on price, quality and convenience factors, using a proprietary search engine it calls CU-Shopper and using 5300 Call Report data.

During its recent debut at the 2013 Conference of the Marketing Association of Credit Unions in Las Vegas, the site's Top 5 highest rated CUs averaged $31 million in assets, with less than 1,900 members, including the $2.6 million, 180-member Employee Savings FISCU in Montgomery, Ala. and the $10 million, 700-member, LRFD FCU in Little Rock, Ark.

“MoveCU.com proves that CUs don't have to be bigger to be better,” said Kevin Dawson, the site's co-founder. “The industry is cannibalizing. Membership is growing, but the number of institutions is declining. Our proprietary search engine gives all CUs a chance to stand out on individual products or PFI leads.”

MoveCU.com is the brainchild of Dawson, who said he is a Web developer and Internet strategist for Data Based Marketing, a San Luis Obispo, Calif.-based firm that has served the CU industry since 1985, and of Jason Smith, a relationship executive manager with HSBC Bank Australia.

“We see a huge education opportunity with the CU industry,” Dawson said. “If the general public understands how CUs work and the advantage of joining a CU rather than a bank, then the market share for CUs will drastically improve. We started a platform that not only informs and empowers visitors, but allows them to take immediate action through our site to join a credit union. The sale of financial services online is huge. It is also a great way to increase membership and communicate to a younger demographic.”

For a subscription fee of $199 a month, CUs can upload information such as their logo, description, branch information, membership information, services, current rates, online applications and email links to mortgage servicing rights.

The site ranks credit unions whether or not they're MoveCU customers, the company said.